Sunday, March 27, 2011

Try something kinda new but dont go far from the path just incase............

So the other day I was messing around with some sheet metal trying to think of something new for my rack on my cargo bike with the 36 inch rear and 29er front.

My first thoughts are " DON'T make it look like an electric bike, hide the battery and don't let anyone know they are there ( unless they read my blog ). " I started building a lithium-ion battery pack that was 36 volt to match up with the rear drive hub but making it not too crazy large and heavy, the goal being an assist bike and not a full e-bike sized battery.

The next thought was to create a way to charge the system on the go without the charger, it doesn't need to be a full charge, just a helper is fine.

Coming from a strong background in renewable energy products and concept RE projects over the years, I remembered a very key solar panel that helped the US military. The company Uni-Solar has developed so many crazy products but one of the main products, being these crazy flexible solar panels that the US military could use on the battle grounds. With blocking diodes on each cell, a bullet can go thru the panel and only loose a section of cells as compaired with other companies that would result in the loss of the complete panel. The other neat thing is the panel is flexible and has a clear plastic covering, this also was a great design, to allow the ground soldier to be able to fold or roll up the panel to transport it. I decided to use this panel because of the no glass system and because it was could be modified very easy.

So this is the battery tray, the front part will be used as a glove box for paper work

It will have a door on the front

Here you can see the battery layout

The charger controller is in the middle of the pack

and the motor controller is on the left, plus the storage in front.

Here is the Uni-Solar panel just on top so you can get the idea

The final rack will have a 1/4 inch thick piece of lexan squeezing the panel down

This panel is a 11 watt panel at 12 volts, so it will be about 3.5 watts at 36 volts

Here is the mock up of the cargo bike waiting for the classic leif fork, the rack and bars to be finished, its an odd machine to say the lease. It won't look much off this photo when finished so the real question is.... Does it look electric?

I am getting ready and working non-stop to make sure I have all my machines ready. Not only will I be in the show during the day but also there will be a fashion show that takes place on Saturday the 9th at night. Some of my current project bicycles will be used by the models on the runway, it should be a good old time and in a new location from last year! Theres a lot of good companies throwing down for the fashion show~!

Monday, March 7, 2011

Something in my heart just won't let go yet of my job at Exile cycles no matter how much and hard I work on other projects.

My welds and work have become somewhat of a trademark of Exile and Russell wants to make sure his products are at the highest level by keeping me around. The main problem of the deal is I live in Oakland and Exile is located in Los Angeles about 6 hours drive south. The is where the problem is, we have had to get creative.

Some of the most fun times I have had in the last 5 years have been because of Exile, traveling, TV shows and meeting some of the biggest names in the world.

Exile motorcycles start at $50,000 dollars just to give you an idea of the market for the bikes and the faces you get to see.... Not uncommon to see a class A big name walking in the shop.

Yep thats me, a while back when we were shooting for Discovery Channel

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Between moving in to the new shop, getting all the new machines in and getting ready to start a bunch of very high profile tech prototype jobs that I wasn't expecting. I am so stoked about all the new machines I bought, such as sheet metal machines and new mills and welder stuff. Moving isn't easy, nor is it fun.

Josh was helping me move!

That mill was my Xmas gift to myself for notching tubes.

A mint 1941 K&T Horz. Milling machine

I have been making some crazy projects this last week for a medical company

This is the first time I have been involved in an FDA medical approval, crazy amount of work!

So....

We tried to find a lady for him before his nuts got chopped off..

we hunted for a mini greyhound, ha ha, 2 days of dog parks with no finds